Bulgaria and Serbia are rushing to secure fuel supplies as U.S. sanctions on Russian oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft take effect later this month, threatening to disrupt key energy operations across Southeast Europe.
Bulgaria’s state reserves agency said on Tuesday the country currently has enough gasoline for about 35 days and diesel for more than 50 days, as it prepares to implement sanctions against Lukoil, which owns Bulgaria’s largest refinery in the Black Sea city of Burgas and controls much of the country’s storage and pipeline infrastructure.
“The country has around a month’s worth of gasoline and over 50 days of diesel,” agency head Asen Asenov told the state news agency BTA, adding that Bulgaria is ready to activate additional reserves stored abroad.
The U.S. and Britain last month imposed sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia’s two largest oil producers, over Moscow’s war in Ukraine. The measures, which take effect on November 21, have raised fears of fuel shortages across the region as winter approaches.
Energy experts say Bulgaria holds additional quantities of crude oil and refined products in other EU countries, but must import them quickly before Lukoil’s European logistics network falls under sanctions.
“About half of the refined fuels are stored elsewhere in the EU, so Sofia must act fast to bring them home,” said Martin Vladimirov, energy and climate director at the Center for the Study of Democracy in Sofia.
To safeguard domestic supplies, the Bulgarian government has temporarily banned exports of certain fuel types — mainly diesel and jet fuel — to EU member states. It has also tightened security at the Burgas refinery and introduced legal provisions allowing the state to take over the facility and sell it to a new owner if necessary to avoid disruption from U.S. sanctions.
Bulgaria, an EU member that will adopt the euro on January 1, 2026, remains heavily reliant on Russian crude imports despite pledges to diversify its energy mix.
Meanwhile in Serbia, Russian owners of Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS) — the country’s dominant oil and gas company — have agreed to sell their shares following Western sanctions imposed earlier this autumn.
Serbian Energy Minister Dubravka Đedović Handanović said on Tuesday that the Russian shareholders had submitted a request to the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) to extend a sanctions waiver while negotiating with a third-party buyer.
“The Russian side is ready to give up control and influence over NIS to a third party,” she said on social media, adding that the Serbian government supports the move.
Belgrade estimates that the NIS refinery in Pančevo can continue operating only until November 25 without new crude oil deliveries. Serbia has also been seeking alternative supply routes since Croatia’s JANAF pipeline halted shipments of Russian oil.
“Time is running out, and a solution must be found,” Đedović Handanović said. “But citizens will not and should not face fuel shortages.”
The dual crises in Bulgaria and Serbia underscore the far-reaching impact of U.S. and U.K. sanctions targeting Russia’s energy empire, which stretches across multiple European states.
Lukoil — with refining and retail operations in more than a dozen countries — said last month it was moving quickly to sell overseas assets under a sanctions grace period that expires November 21, and may seek an extension if deals are not finalized in time.
Both governments in Sofia and Belgrade have vowed to protect domestic energy security, but analysts warn the sanctions could test the region’s limited fuel reserves and highlight its deep dependence on Russian energy infrastructure.
“The sanctions are not only about punishing Moscow,” Vladimirov said. “They are also a wake-up call for Southeastern Europe to speed up its energy transition and reduce vulnerability to geopolitical shocks.”